The Path of Destruction
by SlayersFan132
Summary: AU Lina Inverse, the world's strangest sorceress, is transferred to another school and meets a few people almost as odd as herself. As darkness begins to spread over the country of Seyruun, Lina wonders if she has what it takes to save the world. Lina/Zel, Filia/Xellos. Rated T for mild violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01: The New Girl**

Lina sighs and approaches her soon-to-be new school. After her mom and sister practically kicked her out of the house, she had to flee the city and go off on her own. Just thinking of her sister gives Lina the shivers.

She isn't exactly the fairest rose, but she still looks decent, with her long scarlet hair and ruby eyes. (She has a temper to match that fiery head of hers.) She's a bit on the short side, which disturbs her, but not freakishly so. In fact, some of the girls at her old school even used to look up to her for her beauty.

But that's beside the point.

Lina enters the doors and runs into a welcoming committee. A girl with short black hair and navy blue eyes, wearing a white blouse and blue capris, greets her excitably.

"Hello, you're the new student, correct?" she asks. Without waiting for an answer, she continues, "I'm Amelia Seyruun, president of the welcoming committee and also daughter of Phillionel Seyruun, the president of this country! And, judging from the description I got from Daddy, I would assume you are...Lina Inverse?"

"Er, yeah," Lina replies as the crowd parts so Amelia can guide her down the hall.

"Well, Miss Lina, as you know, this is Seyruun Academy, where only the top scholars are allowed to take classes," the hyperactive teen explains. "We have many well-taught teenagers here, and some of them have worked very hard to qualify. But first, let's lay down the ground rules. Hoods are not allowed up during school hours in the presence of the country's flag or anywhere else on school grounds. I can see that you don't have a hood, Miss Lina, and for that, I thank you."

"So why's he wearing a hood?" Lina asks, pointing towards a beige cloaked figure who has all but his eyes covered.

"Who, Zelgadis? He always walks around with a hood. We all know him, and the teachers never bother him about it." Amelia shrugs thoughtfully. "It's almost like everyone's scared of him." She smiles anyway. "Filia, the girl in charge of the school newspaper, always has all the latest gossip, so if you need anything, go to her. She's this really tall blonde with purple glasses, and she always has a mace. Unmistakable."

Lina nods slowly as Amelia continues to talk too fast for her own good. Suddenly the bell rings, and the young teen halts.

"Oh, no! Why am I always late?!" Amelia cries, dashing off. "Miss Lina, your locker number is 239, by the way. Your combination is 31, 21, 15." With that, Amelia vanishes into a classroom, and loud apologies are heard.

Lina shakes her head and puts all her things away in her locker. She then walks off into her first class, which is History.

Surprisingly, she finds both Filia and Zelgadis there. The teacher turns her head in Lina's direction and says, "Oh, class, this is Lina. She just transferred here from Zephilia. I'm sure you all know her, because after all, Amelia is very hyperactive."

There are some murmurs of agreement. Apparently, Amelia gets on everyone's nerves.

The only available seat is next to Zelgadis, which increases Lina's suspicions about him. Nevertheless, she sits over there and prepares her pencil to take notes.

"You're an odd one," a quiet baritone voice says.

Lina glances to her left and tilts her head in curiosity. Zelgadis is the one who spoke. "What do you mean?"

"Your aura."

She inhales sharply; only people with a capability to use magic can read auras, and nowadays those people are rare. Lina slips into the Astral Plane and glances at him again. His aura is enormous, almost filling up half the room, and blue-black.

Lina nods in his direction. "Yours is strange, too."

The short conversation ends at that, and she tries to focus on class. _If Zelgadis can read auras, how many others can?_

* * *

The hours 'til lunch pass rather uneventfully, aside from Lina hearing some distasteful gossip about her. She finds that Zelgadis is in each of her classes, which is mildly surprising. Maybe the school board is trying to see if she can get him to open up?

Lunch comes at last, and, after eating, Lina approaches Filia.

"Oh, hi, Lina," the blonde says, pushing her glasses up. (And true to form, a mace is hanging from her hip.)

"You've been talking about me?" Lina says calmly, trying to tone her anger down enough so she doesn't scare Filia.

"Well, of course. You _are_ the new girl, after all. Who wouldn't expect me to spread gossip?"

Lina's eyes narrow. "Filia, I _don't_ like Zelgadis, and he _doesn't_ like me."

Filia rolls her eyes. "Please, Lina. Zelgadis hasn't talked to anyone in...forever, aside from Gourry and that piece of garbage, Xellos, and that's only because Zel takes pity on Gourry for his stupidity and Xellos teases him to no end. I would know, because I dated him in seventh grade, two years ago." Her brow creases. "He used to be one of the most popular kids in school because of how easily everyone could get along with him, even if he was a little shy. It took forever to get him to ask me out. But anyway, Zelgadis used to hang out with everyone until one day he didn't come to school. And he had never missed a single day of school in his entire life, so everyone was surprised. He called me after school and said he was breaking up with me. He sounded terrible, so I asked what was wrong. He never replied; he simply hung up. Then, last year, he started covering his face up and wearing different clothes. No one knows what happened, not even me. I tried to contact his parents, but Zelgadis always picked up and said they weren't home." Filia sighs, but then retains to her usual self as Lina sits down next to her with a concerned look. "Anyway, Lina, he rarely talks to anyone, and he never talks to the new girl on the first day she comes. So that's why I started that rumor. I think he likes you, Lina."

Filia seems to pause for a second before frowning and adding, "And Lina, you should be careful. Too many people around here can read auras. Be sure to hide yours well."

Lina nods as they both stand up from the table and begin to leave the lunch room. Already, Amelia, a raven-haired girl named Sylphiel, and Zelgadis have all warned her about it. She knows that she should be careful, but why stress over it? Why is everyone so worried for her?  
Lina, for the second time today, slips her vision into the Astral Plane and glances down at herself, gasping.

Her aura is golden with black splotches, and surprisingly, almost as large as Zelgadis'; compared to Filia's, which is rather small and blue, Lina looks like a magical genius. She'd say she is, but she really isn't that great of a sorceress. She has only gleaned a few spells from textbooks so far, such as Fireball and Elmekia Lance. Other than that, she didn't have enough time or resources before leaving her home town, Zephilia, to study the other spells.

These thoughts only took up a few seconds as Lina whispers breathlessly, "Whoa. I knew I had a lot of firepower, but..."

Filia agrees, "You're special, Lina. No one like you has been here ever since the battle between Shabranigdo and Ceipheed, almost 5,000 years ago. That's when the Lord of Nightmares came as an ordinary girl to this school."

"Wait..." Lina's eyes widen enough to pop out of their sockets. "You were there?"

"I believe so. We were good friends before she realized her destiny. She stood in that very spot once, and I should know. I have a photographic memory."

"Filia...how old are you?"

"Um...five-thousand eighteen, why?"

"And you went out with a teenager?"

Filia blushes. "Well, you've gotta stay young somehow, right? The only person my age around here is that stalker, Xellos."

Lina frowns. "But you dated a _thirteen year old_."

"Lina, we're done with this conversation..." Filia glances away.

"Filia! You dated a teenager! You're, like, five-hundred times his age!"

"Lina, we are _done_ with this conversation!"

"Oh, yes, Filia, you are. I just started a new one." A man with purple hair says calmly, walking up behind her and smiling.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU STUPID PIECE OF RAW GARBAGE! I DO _NOT_ LIKE YOU!" Filia screams, filling the whole cafeteria with her yelling.

Sylphiel cheers, "Yay, Filia! Beat the heck out of Xellos!" as Filia picks up her mace and begins to hit Xellos across the face with it. The purple-haired stalker simply smiles through it, though he does wince a few times.

"Is this a daily routine or something?" Lina asks Amelia, who is busy sweatdropping.

"Yeah, Filia often beats Xellos up. And everyone knows he's powerful, but he never lays a finger on her. He simply goes off to the emergency room and appears unscathed the next day," the president's daughter replies. "He has a similar relationship with Zelgadis, but Zel has never been seen physically harming anyone. All he ever does is simply whisper a few words, and suddenly Xellos is being carted to the emergency room. In fact, Filia, Xellos and Zelgadis are the three main reasons we even did construction for an emergency room."

Lina rubs her temples, sighing. "The second I get home, I'm going to bed."

"Miss Lina, do you even have a home yet?" Amelia asks innocently.

The redhead then slaps the very temple she was rubbing. "No, I guess I'll have to play 'roomies' with someone."

"Well, I hear that Filia, Mister Gourry, and Zelgadis all have their own homes, but Filia often wakes up at three a.m. to smack Xellos in the face, and Mister Gourry wakes up even earlier to practice swordplay. So..."

"I am _not_ asking Zelgadis if I can stay with him, you hear me?!" Lina growls, grabbing Amelia by the shirt collar and shaking her until the bell rings.

"Oh, no! I'm late again!"

Lina sweatdrops.

* * *

The fiery redhead sighs quietly. She is, once again, sitting next to Zelgadis, in eighth hour. She has gotten quite desperate, as she is going back on that promise to Amelia, but since the teacher has ordered utter silence, Lina is resorting to a note.

_Can I stay at your place while I'm searching for an apartment?_

Lina passes the note successfully, and, after reading it, Zelgadis glances at her, obviously surprised. He stares for a moment before writing a reply in neat cursive.

_Only if you don't mind._

_Mind...what?_

_Seeing my face around every morning. It's what scared the teachers._

Now Lina stares at him in surprise. _Really?_ she writes.

_Not this teacher, though. I'm pretty sure she's a cannibal._

_You're kidding._

_Does she _look_ like I'm kidding?_

Lina looks at the teacher, who is eyeing a particularly fat student hungrily.

_Okay, you have a point. But what's so bad about your face? You look fine to me._

_Meet me near the cafeteria in fifteen minutes._

The second Lina finishes reading it, the bell rings and Zelgadis picks up his books and leaves the room. She smiles. The great Lina Inverse is about to discover why everyone is so afraid of Zelgadis, why he's always covered up. Lina smirks smugly. _And on my first day, too._

* * *

Zelgadis checks his watch for the tenth time and frowns. Fifteen 'til four. Lina's late.

He grumbles, "She _wanted_ to meet me here, the least she could do is..."

"Hey, Zelgadis! Sorry I'm late; I couldn't get my locker open." Lina waves to him from the far end of the hall. No one else is there. They left long ago.

"Fine, but next time, I'll leave without you."

"Aw, don't be such a killjoy! Where's your sense of humor?"

"I lost it a couple years ago. Now hurry up." Zelgadis leads her into the school parking lot, where there's a dark silver car sitting in a reserved parking space. He presses a button on the door and said doors open upwards automatically. "We have a thirty minute drive to my house," he says, then adding, "Normally, I would've been _home_ by now..."

Lina sticks her lower lip out. "Well, excuuuse me, princess. It's my first day."

_Did she seriously just call me a princess?_

"Whatever. Come on, we don't have all day. I have a life, you know."

"Really? Based on what Filia and Amelia said, you don't _seem_ to have a life..."

Zelgadis stiffens at mention of Filia. _How much has that crazy blonde shared with her? I hope she didn't..._

Lina smirks, "Ooh, sore spot, huh? Should I just pretend Filia doesn't exist, your Royal Highness?"

"Will you please shut up? I'm driving here, and your endless chatter doesn't help matters." _So help me, if I have to stay in an enclosed space with her for more than forty-five minutes, I. Will. Go. CRAZY!_

Lina smiles and says, "Hey, Zelgadis? Why is the sky blue?"

"It was something about blue and red air molecules. I've got a book on it, and the sooner you stop talking the sooner we get home, which means you can figure it out yourself. Are you going to ask why the ocean is blue, too?"

"No, that's a silly question!" Lina says idly, instead asking, "Why is your hand blue?"

Zelgadis stiffens and shoots a glare at her, silencing the redhead immediately. Lina doesn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those spells of his. After a split second when she was sure they would crash, Zelgadis begins glaring at the road instead.

"Lucky for you," he says quietly, "I don't like violence."

"Yeah..." Lina whispers back. "Lucky me..."

* * *

As the two reach an old, abandoned road, Zelgadis finally says, "Feel free to look around the house, but the closed doors are all off-limits. I'll know if you open them, as I put a ward on each of them to keep invaders from getting in." He smirks at her disappointed expression. "If you think I'm hiding something, you are correct. It took a long time to obtain most of the objects in those rooms, and I would prefer you not touch or go anywhere near them." He glances at her for a split second as they turn onto a gravelly driveway. "I'm being perfectly honest with you, Lina. I'm not stupid. You could probably see through a lie as if it were transparent."

"How would you know that?" the redhead asks indignantly. "For all you know, I may be terrible at telling whether someone lies or not."

"No, it's in your nature, Lina." His reply shocks both of them.

_How did I...?_

_How did he...?_

They glance at each other and frown just as Zelgadis parks the car and stops it.

_Strange...I feel as if I've known her forever..._

Lina stares at him thoughtfully for a few moments. _I feel like I've known him forever..._


	2. Chapter 02: The Office of Doom

**A/N: Hey, everyone! Thanks to those who follow and those who review. Here's chapter 2 of The Path of Destruction!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, though this is an AU.**

**Chapter 02: The Office of Doom**

Lina continues to stare at Zelgadis even as he turns away and gets out of the car.

_How did he know that?_ she wonders silently. _And where did that last remark come from? He's only known me for a day...heck, even less! But yet..._She shakes her head and unbuckles her seat belt, following his example in getting out of the car and entering the house.

"So, Zelgadis," she starts to say, "how long have you lived here?"

"All my life," comes his reply.

"Really? Where are your parents?"

Zelgadis flinches and remains silent. Lina's eyes widen as she whispers, "Zelgadis...they didn't...abandon you, did they?"

Silence.

"I'm so sorry; I shouldn't have asked."

He glances at her for just a second, his expression stoic. "So you wanted to see why all the teachers seem so afraid?" It's more of a statement than a question, but Lina nods.

Zelgadis slowly reaches a hand up to his hood, hesitating for a split second before pulling it and his scarf down in one movement.

Lina stares at him for a few moments, taking in his appearance. His hair is spiked and blue, but that isn't the surprising part. He has small, dark grey stones under and above his eyes, at the edges of his jaw, and on his chin. His skin is pale blue, almost periwinkle, and Lina now notices that his eyes are peculiarly diamond-shaped, inhuman.

"I know I'm a freak, but do you have to stare that long?"

In the silence after his question, Lina realizes that she took almost five minutes staring at him. She then says calmly, "You're not a freak. I think you look cool, just...different."

"'Different' is an understatement," he growls quietly, anger flashing in his eyes as he clenches his fists. As he calms down, Zelgadis sighs and says, "Go pick a room. There should be three, and they're all color-themed. Mine is the one with the closed door. Stay out of it."

Lina nods and walks quietly away.

* * *

After picking a room with distinct red colors ranging from blazing crimson to an almost-but-not-quite-pink, Lina sits on the bed and boots up her laptop. She logs on and goes onto the Internet to sign into her e-mail account.

Lina puts on her glasses and begins to type.

_'Today was a rather strange day. I'm staying in someone's house while I'm looking for my own apartment. His name is Zelgadis. Zelgadis' house isn't too bad; it's small and cozy, great for one or two people. I can tell that he knows how to cook just from the smell of dinner coming from the kitchen. It smells like pasta or something. But he's really strange, like he thinks that no one will accept him for who he really is. His life so far seems pretty sad. Apparently, his parents abandoned him two years ago, and he...well, I'm just saying that he really needs someone in his life to cheer him up, and I'm going to help him with that._

_I miss you, Mom, but I have a feeling Zelgadis needs me more than I need you._

_Love, Lina.'_

Lina clicks 'Send' and sits there for a second, waiting for a reply and checking the clock. It's almost 6:30. Just as the redhead is about to close her laptop and head over to the kitchen, her page reloads and shows that she got a reply from her mom.

_'Lina, I'm glad to hear from you already. Please show Zelgadis that he needs to open up his eyes to right now, not the past. I'm sorry to hear about him, but I'm also happy that you found an opportunity to help someone._

_Miss you too, Mom.'_

Lina didn't expect a reply. Her mother has never replied to any of her e-mails since she left almost a month ago, falling asleep on train cars and planes in her path across the country. Lina smiles slightly and logs off, heading into the kitchen.

* * *

After dinner, Zelgadis heads off down the hall into his own room. He collapses onto the bed, as a teenager generally would after a long day, and mutters, "She'll eat me out of house and home."

To his dismay, he has discovered that Lina can eat a truckload of food without even getting full.

"Lucky for me, I stocked up on extra supplies just in case Gourry showed up, but now I'll need to double it," Zelgadis sighs. "At least there was a decent amount of money in my bank account. I'll just have to..."

_No. _He cuts himself off with a gasp. _I can't believe I was even considering I could borrow from...no!_

Zelgadis sits up and shakes his head numbly. "I can't. Not after what he did. I can't even consider _borrowing _from that...that wicked viper!"

He stands back up and begins pacing, unconsciously resting his thumb on his chin as he does so.

"Whatever the case, I need to look into Lina. Her aura..." Zelgadis shakes his head slightly. "It commands power. It _is _power. She must not know yet, but whatever the case, it's dangerous to go around with so much power. I wonder why no one has noticed until now? Surely Xellos would have been following her around wherever she went. I'm certain that he and Filia are involved in this somehow..." He exits his room and heads down to his library. All of his computers and books are there, and he should be able to find something about her.

A webpage shows up just as he finishes typing her name, but...

Wikipedia?

Zelgadis reads aloud. "'Lina Inverse is the daughter of Joseph and Josephine Inverse...' Well, that's ironic. '...She is well known for having a fiery temper. Most people have insisted that she's a sorceress and even uploaded videos with special effects to try to convince people. Lina has a single sister named Luna, who is a waitress at the Inverse Restaurant, where her family works alone. The restaurant is rated five stars by even Rezo...'" Zelgadis cuts off for a few seconds as he hears Lina calling his name from...the living room.

Okay, good. Not from the hallway. Zelgadis heads upstairs and into the living room, not bothering to close his page. "What is it, Lina?

* * *

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll wait, Xellos. We can't let the other side win."

"Of course."

* * *

The next morning, as Zelgadis pulls into his parking space with a sleepy Lina in the passenger's seat, the redhead glances around and blinks her eyes open, becoming alert. The first thing she notices is the large crowd of girls just inside the glass doors.

"Hey, what's that all about?" she asks.

"You got here just in time for the Valentine's Day dance," Zelgadis says. "This year, for once, the girls ask the guys."

"Have you ever gone with anyone?"

"No."

Zelgadis gets out of the car and walks casually into the school building. Lina stares at him for a second before following suit.

* * *

Lina stalks up to Filia that day, glowing crimson in anger.

"Filia."

The blonde looks up and disappears to the other side of the room, sticking Xellos in front of her. "Y-yes, Lina?" she stutters.

"You were spreading more rumors?" the redhead assumes in a deadly calm voice.

Filia glances from side to side before pointing to Amelia, who's throwing her lunch away and starting to exit the lunch room. "It was her, Lina! Amelia did it!"

"Lina, it was Filia," Amelia says cheerfully, undaunted by the furious redhead.

Lina points her glare back at Filia and suddenly yells, "WHAT'S WRONG IN THAT PRETTY LITTLE HEAD OF YOURS? ZELGADIS AND I ARE _NOT _DATING!"

Filia giggles, "You really think I'm pretty?" oblivious to the rest of it until her brain adjusts. "L-Lina, I swear, I didn't mean any harm! I owed Xellos a favor—"

"I don't care! Do you have any idea how DEAD you are right now? Wait, you owed Xellos something?"

"Y-yeah."

Lina turns her flaming glare to the purple-haired meat shield.

"Xellos," she growls, suddenly deadly calm again, "you're a dead man."

* * *

After multiple punches, a kick where the sun don't shine, a cannonball to the face, and repeated Fireballs, Lina starts to calm down, and Xellos is sent, twitching, to the nearest hospital.

Filia, Amelia, and Sylphiel crowd in Lina's shadow, Filia with a pen and paper.

"Wow, Lina," Amelia exclaims. "You got a new record! Filia has only ever sent Xellos to the emergency room, and she has a mace!"

"Well, I have a cannon and a bazooka," Lina brags haughtily, pointing towards her Weapons of Doom.

Their eyes shine with stars...until the intercom comes on.

_"Lina Inverse, please report to the principal's office. I repeat, Lina Inverse, please report to the principal's office."_

The entire school is now staring at Lina and making 'ward evil' signs.

"Um, Filia? What's so bad about being called to the office?" she asks in a small voice.

Sylphiel takes Lina's hand and leads her out of the cafeteria. "Lina, there have been a total of seven kids called to the office. One of them was an exchange student from Taforashia. He was the president's son, Pokota, and Amelia's boyfriend. None of those seven kids were ever seen again."

Lina stares uneasily at the looming door before her as Sylphiel stops next to it. "We'll miss you, Lina," she says, flashing a peace sign and running back to the cafeteria.

The redhead glances from the retreating figure to the huge door and finally sighs, opening it to reveal a pitch black room with a very evil-looking secretary.

"Welcome, Lina Inverse," the secretary says.

Suddenly the lights turn on to reveal a very pink, very sparkly room full of flying pink kittens. Seven huge piles of pink bunnies are scattered about the room.

"So how do you like it?" the secretary asks cheerfully, stepping out from behind the counter to reveal that she is wearing a hot pink uniform...and flying pink kittens.

Lina's face turns from ghostly white to a sickly green.

"Oh, no! That color is hideous! Try pink. With sparkles!"

The green-faced redhead looks around wildly to throw up in the nearest wastebasket, because she just so happens to hate pink and anything to do with it.

"So...why did you call me here?" Lina asks quietly, still hurling her very sad pancakes into the dying wastebasket.

"We just wanted you to fill out these papers, but we had to call you here because our usual mailman died yesterday," the secretary says even more cheerfully than Amelia. She hands Lina a short stack of papers and adds, "You can leave now."

Lina is gone before the secretary can finish.

* * *

"LINA! YOU'RE ALIVE!" the welcoming committee cries cheerfully.

"Aw, it's nothing..." Lina waves a hand dismissively. She taps her chin for a second before thinking to say, "Oh, and I found those seven kids."

"Really?" Sylphiel asks.

"What happened to them?" Amelia wails in distress.

Lina sniffles, clasping her hands to Amelia's. "Only...only the bones were left."

From an isolated section of the room, Zelgadis smirks, seeing right through it. Lina glances at him and mouths in horror, her face green all over again, "Flying pink kittens."

Unseen, Zelgadis also turns green and almost throws up.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi, readers! I have something to mention. My glasses broke and my vision is terrible both far away and nearby, (I'm legally blind in both eyes now) so there may be more mistakes in here than usual. I apologize, but everyone makes mistakes. By the way, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm totally against sticking an author's note to the end of a sad chapter, or one with a cliffhanger. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I just won't do that, and I don't like reading stories that have that. It ruins the emotion you get at the end of the chapter. For example, if a chapter ends with one of your favorite heroes dying tragically and an author's note is all like, "Well, that was a bummer, wasn't it?" would you still have that melancholic feeling?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers; this is an AU. Please R&R.**

**The Path of Destruction: Chapter 03**

"Zelgadis! Seriously! Wait up!" Lina pants as she chases him down. It's been almost a week since she settled down in the city, but sadly her locker still hates her.

"I told you I would leave without you," he says in a mild manner, getting into the car.

"Zelgadis!" she wails, putting on puppy-dog eyes.

Zelgadis refuses to look at her as she continues to give him the Look. He glances up to see her right in front of him, big eyes trembling. His own eyes widen. _Oh, my god. She's adorable. Just like..._

"Fine, I give up!" he cries. "You win! Just...don't do that again!"

"Aw, Zel, you big softie!" Lina opens the passenger door and beams at him, climbing in.

He shakes his head slightly, silent the entire 30 minute drive. As they park in his garage, Lina asks, "Zel? What was that about?"

"Nothing," he replies, walking into the house and opening a nearby door (which is still off-limits to Lina herself).

Lina is left alone with her thoughts. _A locket, _she thinks, recalling the small object Zelgadis was fingering on the way back. _The strange, mysterious, heartless Zelgadis has a heart-shaped locket._

She decides to bug him later, instead asking, "Hey, Zelgadis? Do you have a library somewhere?"

Silence follows her question. He steps out of the room he's in and glances warily at her, sizing her up or something. "Yes," he finally replies. "It's downstairs."

Lina tilts her head curiously. "Downstairs? You have another floor?"

"Well..." he frowns, glancing from her back to the door behind him. "Yeah. Follow me."

He leads her down the hallway where the bedrooms are.

"Uh...Zelgadis? This is a wall."

"Yeah, I know," he replies. He flicks a switch, and suddenly the floor falls from underneath them.

"ZellllgAAdis...!" Lina yells. "What the heck are you DOING!?"

"Ray Wing." They land gently, and Zelgadis says, "Illumination."

The entire room lights up to reveal an enormous library with shelves two stories up, books crowding every slot.

"Whoa," Lina whispers as she looks around. The room has to at least span the entire length of Zelgadis' house. "How long did it take for you to get so many books?"

"A year," Zelgadis replies, glancing rather shyly at her. "It took me only a year."

"A-a year?!" she cries. "How in the world did you collect so many books in only a year? I'm sure not even Rezo the Red Priest himself was that impressive!"

Zelgadis cringes. "Rezo? He obtained many, many more books in almost half the time."

Lina turns to gawk at him. "What?! H-how would you know that? Are you, like, his idol or something?"

"No, far from it." Zelgadis lets out a bitter chuckle. "Rezo was the very man who made me look like this." He sighs and walks over to one of the many computers nearby, closing the page it's on and turning it off.

Lina's jaw drops so far that he begins to worry it'll fall off. "Rezo? _The _Rezo? The very man who found the cure for blindness?"

"Yes, _the _Rezo. He's my great-grandfather."

* * *

As night falls, Zelgadis continues to wonder just who Lina could be. Xellos has certainly shown interest in her in the past week, but then again, Xellos happens to be a well-known stalker that gets sent to the emergency room more times than he gets dismissed from school.

_What could it be? _Zelgadis wonders. _Why is she so special? And how did she come to be here?_

It's nearing two o'clock when Zelgadis decides to stop thinking. He silently opens the door to his room and begins to walk down the hallway to one of the off-limits rooms. Then he hears quiet sobbing coming from Lina's room.

He glances at her door, then his watch, then back to the door. He hesitates a moment before taking a deep breath and knocking softly on Lina's bedroom door.

The sobbing ceases, and Zelgadis is about to head off down the hallway when quiet footsteps begin to make their way to the door. Lina opens it, and in that moment both of them are frozen in time as they realize just how beautiful they are to each other.

Zelgadis looks at her shadow-cast features, outlined in silver light from her lamp. _She has such a beautiful face, _he thinks in wonder. She has high cheekbones and a rounded jaw, making her face look almost heart-shaped in the dark.

Lina pauses for an equal amount of time. As her face is silhouetted by the lamplight, his is bathed in it. His skin looks almost human, his long eyelashes catching the light, and his teal eyes reflecting it back at her. His sharp hair is softly lit a warm lavender.

Lina clears her throat before whispering, "H-hey, Zelgadis. What's up?" She knows her eyes must be swollen, and her face pink.

_Wait...is that a bit of pink I see on his face, or is it just a trick of the light?_ Suddenly Lina is conscious of her own face heating up a bit.

Zelgadis stammers, equally as quiet, when he speaks. "W-well, I was passing your room, a-and I heard you crying, so..."

_He came to check on me? Does he really care?_ "I'm fine, it's just that...nighttime is usually when my mind wanders over to the sadder aspects of my life."

Zelgadis' soft blue-green eyes fill with something akin to angry concern. "Yeah," he murmurs.

"Here, Zelgadis," Lina says suddenly, sitting down on her bed and gesturing for him to do the same. "Let's enlighten each other. We're living together for now, and we don't really know that much about each other. You tell me something, I'll tell you something."

He looks a bit startled before shrugging and joining her on the edge of the bed. "You can go first."

"Well, my favorite color's red, mainly because my hair and eyes are red. But other than that, I guess it's because I can relate to it a lot," she explains. "I get angry often, and people say that red represents anger. I like being angry. When I'm angry, I sort of find my calm. It's when I think best." Her face grows pinker in a cute little blush.

Zelgadis nods in understanding. "My favorite color is blue, because, like you said, I can relate to it. Nighttime isn't when I sulk, though; it's when I study. Because I study so much, I know basically everything school has to teach. That's when I sulk."

Lina smiles lightly. Suddenly her smile vanishes as she thinks of what happened earlier that day, when they got back from school. "Hey, Zel?"

"Yes, Lina?"

"What was that about? I mean, why did you look so...distant after school yesterday?"

His eyes widen and begin to fill with tears before he bites his lip sharply. "L-Lina...I..."

Her large ruby eyes soften. "No, it's okay. I changed my mind; you don't have to tell me. I was just wondering."

"You have a right to wonder," he replies quietly. "It's just...I used to have a little sister, and she..." He chokes on his words as the bitter tears begin to fall. "She used to do that all the time, whenever...whenever she asked me for something. She used to look at me the way you did, whenever she wanted something. She was only five, and...one day, two years ago, she was picked up from school by my parents...They were coming to pick me up when...when they got in a car crash."

Lina's eyes water. _Oh, my god. That...that could have happened to him, too. It could have happened to anyone...but why Zelgadis? Why is the world out to get him, to cause him so much harm?_

His mental barrier breaks down, falling with his cold, bitter tears of hatred to the world and its people. He chokes on sobs even as he continues to say, "She was so sweet and innocent...I remember...when she started kindergarten, she gave me this." He cups his open locket gingerly in his hand.

In it is a sweet picture of a little girl with curly, honey-colored hair sitting on a young man's shoulders. He's laughing, and so is his sister. Both of them look so carefree, so joyful. Neither of them could possibly suspect what would come.

"Zelgadis..." Lina whispers. She blinks back her own tears, leaning close to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. He starts to protest, but she shakes her head and hugs him tighter. He glances down at her with such a warm look that when she meets his eyes, she feels as if she could melt. He tries to smile, and Lina smiles back as he rests his head on hers.

She falls asleep like that, cocooned in his warmth, and soon enough, he does, too.

* * *

"Well, well." Someone cloaked in black walks down the hallway, alone with his thoughts. "This story's pathetic protagonists are getting closer by the day. If we truly want Her on our side, we'll have to break Her heart."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hiya peopleza! Zis is chapter 4 of the Path of Destruction, obviously! Have fun reading this, and please make sure to review, at least!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, but this is an AU.**

**The Path of Destruction: Chapter 4.**

Lina's ruby-red eyes flicker open briefly. Where is she again? Oh, right. In her room.

The first thing she registers is the smell of breakfast. It probably has something to do with pancake batter. Zelgadis does seem to have a lot of flour, eggs, and milk.

Wait a second...

"Hey, Zelgadis!" Lina calls halfway across the house, dashing towards him. She sees him glance at her in bewilderment, but then she points a finger in his face and says, "If you _dare_ mention to _anyone _that what happened last night...happened, then so help me..." She grabs him by the collar of his shirt and shakes him around until he replies.

"Um, Lina, you're missing one thing: I don't talk to anyone."

"Oh..." Lina pauses for a second and then makes a comeback. "Well, if you get any more popular today than you have been for absolutely no reason whatsoever, then so help me, I will _murder you _and make sure no one finds the body."

Zelgadis sighs. "Do you want bacon or sausage? (I don't know why I bother asking when I know what the answer is...)"

"Both!" she cries cheerfully, grabbing her laptop case and sending a reply to Amelia's e-mail from the night before, at almost 2 a.m.:

_"Hi, Lina! How are you doing? I can't wait until school tomorrow...er, today! What are you doing right now? Are you reading my message, or are you doing something else? Well, anyway, I hope you have a lot of fun at school today, and please remember not to wear a hood. Oh, and tell Zelgadis not to wear a hood, too! It'll be nice to see his face again...!"_

Lina replies, _"Amelia, quit stalking me, and quit bothering me. I hate you. Get a life."_

Right away, Amelia's re-re-message says, _"Okay, Lina! Don't forget to not wear a hood! I will go try to get a job and move out from Daddy's house now!"_

Lina sweatdrops and closes her laptop, all the while wolfing down bacon, egg and sausage like she hasn't eaten in years. "So, Zelgadis," she says. "Amelia, like usual, wants you to stop wearing a hood. Maybe we could find a way to cure that chimera skin of yours...?"

"You go do that, Lina. I'm going to the museum after school, so I won't be back until five or six, okay?"

"Wait, which museum?"

"The interesting one with all the sparkly gems in it."

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" Lina chases him out the door and into the car, climbing in and buckling her seat-belt just as Zelgadis pulls out of the driveway. "Sheesh, Zelgadis, haven't you ever heard of etiquette?"

He snorts. "I used to be all about etiquette, Lina, and look where that got me. I used to pull out Filia's chair whenever she sat down at my parent's table. I used to say 'pardon me' instead of 'excuse me'. I used to...I used to be social, Lina. I had too many friends to count."

Lina's eyes glisten with unshed tears. She looks away to hide them and whispers, "I'm sorry, Zelgadis. I just never seem to know what to say, do I?" She forces out a short laugh, but then the rest of the ride is utterly silent. Finally, she can't stand it anymore and she has to turn on the radio. The first thing that comes on is One Direction.

"Oh, so this is the kind of music you listen to?" she wonders.

"Um, yes. Do you care?"

"No, not really. I like 1D, too." Lina smiles and actually laughs this time.

"Really? I'd peg you as more of a...Green Day gal..."

"May I ask what's wrong with you? I like them, but Green Day is definitely not at the top of my list."

Zelgadis throws a glance at her, smirking. "I agree. I don't really listen to rock stations, and I don't listen to the radio often, so this mainly just stays on 101.5 and 98.5."

Lina turns up the volume and begins to sing along to 'Story of My Life'. Zelgadis just rolls his eyes and remains focused on the road.

They're just about to get into the city when suddenly, from one of the smaller roads with a Stop sign, a car pulls out in front of them.

Zelgadis slams on the breaks, and Lina screams a few choice words before the impact. Lina is jarred forward and the windshield breaks, but the other car is hardly damaged at all, aside from a dent on the side of the vehicle.

The hood of Zelgadis' car crumples, and Lina cries out, holding back tears. Zelgadis, on the other hand, doesn't feel a thing and gets out of the car at the same time the other driver does.

A teenager, obviously someone who just got their license. "Are you okay?" he calls rather stupidly.

"Are you an idiot on purpose?!" Zelgadis replies with a furious question, heading quickly over to Lina's side.

The teen suddenly finds his feet very interesting.

Zelgadis opens Lina's jammed door with some difficulty and asks, "Lina? Are you alright?"

She whimpers in pain, and Zelgadis pulls out his cell phone, dialing Filia's number.

Right away, Filia picks up. _"Zelgadis? What's wrong? Did something happen?"_

"Lina has to go to the hospital, Filia. Some _idiot _over here decided to pull out in front of us at the last second. We can't make it to school today," Zelgadis explains tersely, not bothering to hide his concern.

_"Zelgadis? What happened to Lina? How bad is it?"_

"Bad enough, Filia. Tell the school, okay?" Before she can reply, he hangs up and immediately dials 911.

_"911, what's your emergency?"_

"Car crash, just outside the city, on Lilac Boulevard and Route 64. We need an ambulance."

_"Okay sir, we'll be there ASAP."_

Zelgadis turns back to the other driver and says, "Well, are you happy now?" He doesn't wait for a reply and instead says to Lina, "It's okay; we'll be heading over to the hospital. I'm going to deal with this idiot, okay?"

Lina looks up at him, tears in her eyes. "Zelgadis, I can't move. What's going to happen?"

He doesn't say anything, but the pain in his eyes is obvious. This is very, _very _similar to what happened to his parents, and his sister. Zelgadis shoots another glare at the teenager before looking over his car. He notices that the glove box is stuck between Lina's calves and the rest of the car, and since Lina's wearing jeans today, he can't tell how serious the damage is.

Zelgadis curses and stares off towards the city just as the ambulance's siren becomes audible. After another tense moment of staring, the vehicle comes into view, with its flashing lights and blaring red paint. He stands back as the team comes out of the van and observes the car Lina is in. Another person questions Zelgadis on what happened. The news crew comes soon after the rescue team, but after Zelgadis requests that this doesn't appear on the newspaper, they get disappointed and leave. After that, Filia, Xellos, Gourry, and Amelia show up, bundled into the same car. They pull onto the side of the road and cross over.

For a moment, all five of them simply watch the experts do their job. Eventually, though, Amelia has to ask. "M-Mister Zelgadis, how bad is it?"

"I don't know." It's been so long since all of them have heard his voice that they all just stare at him for a while. Even Xellos hasn't heard him speak in months. Zelgadis quickly tires of all the staring and says, "Well? We have an emergency here, and you guys have to get to school. I'll look out for Lina, okay?"

The other four mumble agreement, piling back into the car and driving to _school, _all the while muttering a few choice words about it.

"Are you coming, sir?" one of the emergency experts asks.

"Yeah..." Zelgadis glances at Lina and closes his eyes, getting into the back with her and some other people.

The same woman places a hand on his forearm. "It's okay, sir. She'll be fine. We've dealt with something like this before. She will be okay...but may I ask how you managed to avoid injury?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, no, I guess not, but..."

Zelgadis glares at the nosy lady and turns his back on her, focusing his attention not on how much he would like to hurt that teenager but on Lina and what may happen.

The rescue professional frowns and simply ignores him for the rest of the ride, going into town, leaving the newbie and the wreck he caused far behind. Soon enough, the blaring sirens announced their arrival at the hospital.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to remain in the waiting room," the lady announces rather dramatically.

Zelgadis shakes his head frantically. "Please, I have to...listen, I've had something like this happen to me before, okay? My entire family died in a car crash. I can't let that happen to Lina. Please, at least let me stay with her."

The woman looks shocked. "Your...your whole family?" She stares at him for a full minute before gesturing for him to follow her. "Well, I guess it'll be fine. After all, if she needs surgery, she'll need someone with her..." She stops at the door, pulls out a clipboard, and asks, "What's your name, sir?"

"Zelgadis Greywords."

"Mm-hm..." she mumbles, writing it down. "Okay, come on in."

Zelgadis steps into the small white room. A few nurses are standing beside Lina's bed, asking her questions about what she remembers. They all look worried when she says, with tears in her eyes, that all she remembers is Zelgadis telling her everything will be okay. When she sees him, her face lights up. "Zelgadis...?" she whispers. "I can't remember anything. I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning...what day is it?"

"It's February 14th, Lina," he replies quietly, walking up to stand beside the bed. "Valentine's Day."

Lina widens her eyes. "Right!" she exclaims as cheerfully as one in a hospital bed can manage. "I was going to ask you...if you would go to the dance with me, but..." she sighs, "I guess I can't go...I even had a dress picked out, and everything."

Zelgadis almost cries, right then, but he turns away and almost silently asks an assistant, "Could you put her in a brace? She's been looking forward to the Valentine's Day dance at the high school tonight. She seemed really happy about it..."

The assistant nods, smiling at him, and hurries off to get all the supplies needed to help Lina out. Zelgadis pulls up a chair next to her and says, "I'll go with you, Lina."

Her face lights up even more. She beams at him, even with her eyes filled with tears. "Zelgadis, you...you'd go with me? Really?"

He nods, smiling back at her, taking her by the hand and adding, "I would be honored."

* * *

That night, the doctor informs Zelgadis that Lina has a pretty bad concussion, and that he should watch out for her, just in case she shows any signs of worse memory loss. Zelgadis assures her that he'll take care of Lina, and they call a taxi to take them to the high school.

Lina is dressed beautifully, wearing a pearly white silk dress, with loose fabric, which made it easy for her to walk in, even with her brace. She has dangling diamond earrings, and her hair is curled slightly, encircling her angelic face. She's not wearing any makeup, though, and somehow, that makes her even more beautiful.

Zelgadis just came dressed in his usual attire, which, therefore, makes them the strangest couple at the dance, him with his hood and Lina with her leg brace and Band-Aids covering her face and arms.

Nevertheless, everyone welcomes them cheerfully, especially Amelia, but after Lina complains quietly that Amelia is giving her a headache, Zelgadis shoos her off. Filia approaches them gracefully, fully decked out in purple with Xellos hovering at her side.

"I'm glad you two came," the blonde says cheerfully. "It would have been a shame if you didn't." After that, Filia and the rest of the school leave them be, although some sympathetic glances are still cast Lina's way and awed glances in Zelgadis'. Some of the girls' looks could even be described as jealousy.

A few slow songs are played, in which Zelgadis and Lina dance together for a while. Eventually Lina tires of dancing and sits down with Zelgadis next to the punch table (after all, what's a dance without blood red punch?).

Lina leans her head on Zelgadis' shoulder the entire time, and sometimes she bursts out into tears. When he asks what's wrong, she simply replies, "All of these songs have something sad about them, whether it's the music or the lyrics."

And Zelgadis starts listening to the music, noticing that most of the songs are played in a minor key, which makes them sound sadder, and when they aren't, the lyrics speak of either lost love or someone not loving them back.

Finally the dance starts to come to a close, and the winners of the 'Sweetest Couple' are about to be named.

Amelia walks up to the stage and says, a bit somberly, "Our winners of the Sweetest Couple award, who will get the final dance of the night, are..." She glances down at the card in her hand and her face lights up. "Our winners are...Mister Zelgadis and Miss Lina!"

Cheering follows, and a shocked couple rises from their spot near the little punch table to claim Lina's tiara and their final dance of the night.

All in all, it was a pretty cool dance, even though Lina had to go back to the hospital afterwards and Zelgadis had to head back home (with all her homework. Ugh.).

They went home in cheerful spirits, and that's basically all that matters. :)


End file.
